Yoko Kanno
Cowboy Bebop O.S.T. 1

With this album, I would like to introduce you to an artist who, in my humble opinion, deserves in Italy the same fame she holds on the international scene.
Yoko Kanno, composer as well as pianist and singer of the Seatbelts group, mainly deals with soundtracks for anime. While at first glance this might seem limiting for a talented musical artist, in this case, it is precisely thanks to the need to explore different musical fields that Yoko Kanno manages to express all her genius and eclecticism. In fact, you could find her works on the shelves ranging from classical to electronic, to blues, jazz, and rock (she herself has stated that she does not have a favorite genre and loves to make music without distinction of styles).

"Cowboy Bebop OST" is a fundamentally jazz album (to be more precise, bebop) though enriched with swing, blues, and fusion hues. Yoko Kanno's extraordinary ability emerges in this album through a sophisticated blend of a vintage atmosphere that recalls the golden age of Charlie "Bird" Parker, and another of exquisitely post-modern flavor (the track "Bad Dog No Biscuits" is emblematic for this discussion).
The Seatbelts' expertise can also be found in their high technical ability and profound expressiveness of execution.
The key pieces of the album are "Tank!" (a small bebop masterpiece with a catchy rhythm and an explosive alto sax lead), "Rush", "Bad Dog No Biscuits", and "Space Lion".
The only downside of the work is the "minor" tracks, created for obvious script needs, which are less explosive than the others, but can still be appreciated thanks to Yoko's unmistakable signature (among all "Rain", the only rock track, which unfortunately, removed from the context of the anime, is nothing more than a dull melodic rock tune).

I hope with this review to have caught the interest of some readers, and if you liked the album, I inform you that the soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop is composed of four other albums (which I will not review to avoid being repetitive, also because I believe this is the best of the five).